Thursday, 24 October 2013

[QF2] Al Kouther vs Pret a Manger

So here it is, the long overdue final quarter final write up. Al Kouther vs Pret a Manger. The former having stormed into the Quarter Finals after coming up against our DIY Sainsbury's effort and the latter perhaps counting themselves a little lucky after sneaking a closely fought battle with Mediterranean Food Bar (Mediterranean Wrap). A blockbuster place in the semi finals awaits against The King of Falafel.

As just mentioned, Al Kouther flew into this stage of the tournament after ripping apart a poorly stocked Sainsbury's. They were high on the top score list for a long time during the heats and rightly so, judging on today's effort they've even been able to up their game. We've always been champions of Al Kouther and we're glad to see them still serving up wraps of the highest quality going into the latter stages of the competition. The service is always top drawer and they're able to turn round orders very quickly.

As you can see from the photo below, the wrap really was quite a picture. There's a lot of contrasting colours on display from the red cabbage and tabbouleh as well as some stodgy but delicious beige carbohydrates. The wrap was massive (probably the biggest of the competition) which kept us plenty full for the afternoon and then into the evening. The wrap was well spiced; the sauce being not too acidic but providing a healthy amount of heat.

Pret's wrap again was pretty decent. We may have grumbled before about it only really having one taste from start to finish but when that taste is so good who really cares? What this provides that no other wrap in the competition does is the three following things: Aubergine, Halloumi and Heat (thermal, not chilli). These three factors are big and are reflected in the Taste, Nutrition and Mouthfeel scores. There's a depth of flavour with Pret's wrap that can only really be rivalled by Meal Deal Chilli is King. In almost all scoring categories this Pret wrap does well however it stumbles on Quantity and completely collapses when it comes to Cost.

It's those two aforementioned categories which have let this Pret wrap stand no chance of progressing further in the competition. It's a shame because as it gets further into winter having a hot wrap becomes infinitely more superior. Al Kouther takes it though and will face The King in the Semi Final.